Sending Letters of Good Intent

360 Thinc Has Celebs Pitch for Stationers
ATLANTA–E-mail may have revitalized the dying art of letter-writing, but it has been a coffin nail for stationery manufacturers. That’s the irony Joel Babbit’s 360 Thinc has been wrestling with in its ongoing campaign for the International Engraved Graphics Association.
“Our job is to make people aware that this unique art form is in danger of becoming extinct,” said 360 project coordinator Lauren Jancik. And, of course, to boost lagging sales.
The Atlanta shop’s strategy for the association is to put celebrities like Larry King, Michael Douglas and Martha Stewart to work–on paper anyway–for the nonprofit Reading Is Fundamental literacy program.
As the $500,000 campaign is set up, personalized letters on engraved stationery from Stewart, Douglas, King, Matt Lauer and Ray Charles were sent to 50,000 bankers, lawyers and Fortune 1000 types, asking them to support RIF’s 3.5